Hey guys so haha yeah, im back again. I'm sorry if im overloading this site with stories. Also i started doing a separate story and realized that this one and that co-inside with each other so this has become a prequel. This basically follows the movie plot line but is different in the aspect of Pepper doesn't interrupt Tony when he's talking in the scene where he brings her strawberries. Also, lot more dialogue and explanation in between scenes. Thank you to those of you who have put me on alert and Favorited me and to those of you who review for my stories. I hope you enjoy reading this prequel and i will try and update as soon as possible.

An Alternative to Strawberries

Disclaimer: So I finally realized I've been so eager to just put all my stories out there that I totally forgot about the disclaimer but I mean come on, I definitely have no association with both Shane Black and Jon Favreau not to mention the comic books. So all of my stories are my own and I so will never own the franchise. I do however own the movies, booyakah son.

"Ms. Potts." Said the secretary entering her office in the middle of an important phone call Pepper was making.

"Relax." Said a faint familiar voice that hadn't quite come into Pepper's view yet.

"Mr. Stark."

"Sure." Tony said interrupting the woman again.

"Refuses-"

"I don't." Tony said once more interrupting her and walking into Pepper's office, that had once been his, carrying a box of strawberries. "I'll only be a second." Tony told the persistent woman. Pepper held up a finger telling them to wait and returned her focus to the phone call. She didn't want to talk to Tony, she was furious with him.

"Listen it's our position-"

"Thank you, Mandi is it?" Tony said to the fleeting secretary.

"- That Stark has and continues to maintain proprietary ownership of the Mark II platform." Pepper said drumming her fingers on the desk annoyed and briefly glanced at Tony before turning her attention to the T.V. that was on. Bill O' Reilly's face was blowing up the screen.

"When Mr. Stark announced he was Iron Man he promised America-"

"No, the suit belongs to us" Pepper said frustratedly into the phone receiver yet still fixed on what the T.V was spitting out.

"We trusted he would look out for us. Obviously he did not." Bill announced.

"Yes but you're not, Bert yes it does!" Pepper protested.

"And now we learn that his secretary, a woman named Virginia 'Pepper' Potts-" Pepper turned back to the T.V, still drumming her fingers in annoyance, to see just what this clown would say about her. "Has been appointed the CEO of Stark Industries."

Tony looked at Pepper, his stare affectionate and resolved. He was going to tell her, he couldn't live like this anymore, not without reaping the consequences of not telling her. He had nightmares that kept him awake up till the wee hours of the morning and granted him no more than three hours of sleep a night. Not having phone privileges to hear her voice or see her made him anxious and sad. He felt empty without her witty banter or her caring with him every day like how it used to be.

"What are her qualifications?!" Bill said skeptically.

"No." Pepper said adamantly into the phone.

"Ms. Potts is doing nothing to manage the situation!" he continued to rant.

"Mute." Tony said before this clown could insult his rock.

"No!" Pepper said again only with more fervor. "Bert, Bert, Bert, listen to me." Tony sighed taking his eyes off the T.V and walked to the corner of the room stacked with boxes of his stuff. Tony opened his mouth to speak and pointed to her but changed his mind and continued in his previous direction. "Don't tell me we have the best patent lawyers and not let me pursue this." She said seemingly more frustrated than before.

Tony began flipping through the boxes and said, "I'll get this stuff out of here." Motioning with a twirl of his fingers, to the things around him.

Pepper threw up a hand exasperated and said," Well then tell the president to sign an order." Pepper looked at Tony and was reminded once more as he pulled off a tarp, of the pain he had caused her. "We'll talk about it at the expo. Hammer's giving some sort of presentation tomorrow evening." Un- interested in the thing any longer, Tony began making his way over to Pepper's desk. "Will Tony Stark be there?" She repeated looking at him once more and feeling the deep seated hurt and anger but even deeper love.

"Will I?" Tony asked curiously pulling up a chair to sit in.

"No he will not." She answered cold and solemnly.

"I would like to be." Tony said.

"Bye." Pepper said grateful that the call had finally ended. "No." She answered as Tony was in the process of sitting and asking,

"Got a minute? Come on you just got off the phone, you're fine. Thirty seconds." Pepper looked at him scrutinizingly trying to decide if she should allow him thirty seconds.

Deciding that what he might say could be helpful she looked to her watch and began counting down. "Twenty-nine."

"Okay I um-"

"Twenty-eight." She said still looking at her watch.

Tony shifted in his chair and sat up. "I was just driving over here and I thought I was coming to apologize but I'm not-" he said stumbling through unable to make eye contact.

Pepper angrily shifted her eyes and said, "Oh so you didn't come here to apologize?" She asked folding her hands in her lap, leaning back in her chair.

"That goes without saying and I'm working on that." He said with sincere eyes. "But I haven't been entirely…upfront…with you and I just want to make good, can I move this?" He asked unable to hide his displeasure any longer with the thing obstructing his view. "This, this is crazy it's like a Ferris wheel."

"No." Pepper said staring at him with a look that said she clearly wasn't in the mood to see him and that he had better get to the point of his visit. Tony cleared his throat and pushed the chair to the other side of her desk.

"Do you know how short life is? And if I never got to express, and by the way this is somewhat revelatory to me." He said his eyes downcast, his heart racing, as he neared toward the bombshell he was about to place in her hands. "and I don't care, I mean I care, it'd be nice but im not expecting you to, look here's what im trying to say, and im just gonna say it."

Pepper was going to interrupt him but bit her tongue knowing he was almost to the punch line. Tony met Pepper's eyes hesitantly and said with sadness in his eyes, "I'm dying…Pepper." He said pausing.

Pepper's once angry demeanor transformed into that of shock and un-comprehension. The only thing she could manage to say without tears was, "How long?"

"Two days. The least. Three the max." Tony said sadly trying to read her blank face.

"H..how..what? I…I…I don't understand." She said shaking her head refusing to coexist with the terms dying and Tony.

"The arc reactor, the palladium in it that's keeping me alive is also poisoning my blood and killing me. I'm up to 93% blood toxicity."

"But…how long have you known about this?" She asked wanting to burst into tears and collapse in his arms and apologize for everything and never let him go.

"Two months, give or take a week."

"How could you keep this from me?" She asked trying not to let the hurt she felt become evident in her voice, but Tony knew her well enough to where he picked it out as an underlying tone.

"I…I just…I didn't want everyone, especially you to treat me differently."

"So you'd rather me be angry at you for being a self-destructive jack ass as opposed to me being able to justify the action and forgive you?"

"Yes but at least you wouldn't treat me like a dying jack ass." He said. "Listen, Pepper." He said reaching over her desk and taking her hand. "You're the only person I've told and I-"

"Why'd you choose to tell me?" she asked weakly.

"Tony wasn't sure if he should tell her but decided he had already kept the truth from her once and wouldn't do it again. "I haven't been able to sleep. I keep having these nightmares and I just…I couldn't deal with it anymore."

Pepper's heart fluttered a little and she cast her eyes down and they were drawn to the strawberries. "Did you bring me strawberries? Did you know that there's only one thing that I'm-"

"Allergic to." They said together.

"Is strawberries." Tony said looking down to the red fruit and storing that factoid should he have a future to need to remember it for. "mmhhm. This is progress Pepper, I knew there was some correlation between you and this." He said with a small smile.

Pepper returned the small smile and said with as much emotion as she felt, "I need you Tony."

"I need you too Pepper." He said softly.

They began gravitating toward each other but as the sound of the door interrupted them along with Natalie's voice saying, "Ms. Potts."

They quickly drifted feet apart and Pepper cleared her throat and said perkily," Hi…com…come on in."

"Wheels up in twenty five minutes." Natalie said walking up to her with a blue folder.

"Wait, wheels up? Where are you going?"

"Actually Natalie I think im going to cancel the trip to the expo."

"What?" Tony asked taken aback. "Why would you do that?" He asked not understanding.

"For you. I would do that for you." Pepper said defensively upset with the idea that he actually wanted her to still leave. "Natalie, can you give Mr. Stark and I a minute to talk in private please."

"Of course." Natalie said ushering Happy out as well.

As soon as the doors were closed Tony pounced and said, "You need to go."

"No! How could you even suggest that? I'm not leaving you! I don't want to." She said closing the three feet they had managed to put between them.

"Pepper, you have to go to the expo. I need someone I can trust there to watch Hammer."

"The presentation isn't until tomorrow night Tony. I'm staying."

"Only if you promise to go at the last minute."

"To which I'll only say yes if you promise to call me if things start going downhill so I can be here with you."

"There may be a snag with that request. Agent Coulson has kept me trapped in my house, no outside contact allowed if you catch my drift. He's on babysitting duty while S.H.I.E.L.D director Nick Fury makes me look for a new element to replace the palladium and keep me alive."

"So if you find this element within two days, you'll live?" Pepper asked as hope began to return and crank up to full blast.

"If, I find the element." Tony corrected trying not to give her false hope. Pepper hugged him and squeezed him tight. "I'm not out of the woods yet Pepper." He said still remaining objective but wrapping his arms around her all the same.

"I'll drive you home." She said reaching into his jacket pocket and grabbing out his keys. "Oh and throw out those strawberries." She said wrinkling her nose disgustedly as she looked at them sitting on her desk.

He grabbed the box of berries and walked over to the tiny can, tossing them in the bin and scattering most of them across the floor. He smiled sheepishly and picked up one taking a bite of it looking back to the tarp covered thing before beginning to walk away. He stopped and walked back immediately turning around as his brain finally comprehended what his eyes had seen. It was the same, 'key to the future' city he had seen on his dad's expo tapes.

Pepper observed how fixated he had become on the thing and watched as the wheels tuned in his mind, neurons firing a million miles a second. Tony's mouth opened a little as he ripped off the rest of the tarp to the project his father created. He formed a little kaleidoscope with his hand eying the center sphere that looked like a globe. He blinked a couple of times staring at it still unable to quite believe what he was seeing. His lips began to form into a small smile and he swallowed it back not wanting to get carried away.

Pepper couldn't handle the not knowing anymore and asked him what was going on. "Tony, what's going on? What are you thinking?"

"Can this be taken apart?" he asked pointing to the city.

"Why?"

"I think I may have found where my miracle cure is." he said still trying to process the information himself.

"What?" Pepper nearly shrieked as she became excited. She half ran to the city and immediately helped in trying to collapse the model. They broke it into four pieces and recruited Happy to help bring the pieces to his car. Tony took two and Happy took two. Pepper was trying to contain the relief she felt flooding through her body. She kept reminding herself Tony wasn't safe yet. As Tony sped home she followed him in the Bentley with Happy.

Thanks guys for reading. Please leave me a review to tell me what you think of it so far and in the next chapter of this prequel, there is some major Pepperony going on. I don't want to spoil too much but there may or may not be a meeting of lips. ;). See ya round guys.